The present invention relates to a hand held weight or dumbbell which is designed for comfort, safety and durability, and more particularly to a hand held weight which is user friendly during use while also protecting against damage to supporting and other surfaces when not in use.
For arm, shoulder and chest development, hand held weights or dumbbells have long been employed. Typically, such hand held weights or dumbbells include a pair of rounded weights on each end of a elongated shaft. In some cases, the weights are adjustably mounted to each end of an elongated shaft, such as by threaded connections and the like, as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 984,721 or 1,672,944. Prior art hand held weights or dumbbells have been made from various materials including iron, chrome and sand filled plastic weights. As is well known, such products are not only unsightly, they do not appeal to potential customers. Moreover, they are difficult to grip and hold during exercise routines. To facilitate gripping of dumbbells, soft resilient materials, such as rubber pads and grips have been employed, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,991,520 and British Patent No. 550,961. Soft resilient grips, with cooperating straps or members for engaging the back of a hand, are also disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,351,526; 4,627,618 and 4,846,464. While the devices shown in these patents have materially improved the use and performance of dumbbells, they have not provided all the features desired, where user friendliness including comfort, safety and durability during use is desired. In addition, they do not protect the user during use, while protecting surfaces against damage by the dumbbell when not in use.
From the discussion that follows, numerous other features of the present invention will also become apparent from the detailed description of the invention.